The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, requesting permission to submit a new appeal against a Federal High Court decision that banned it from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
The application follows the Court of Appeal’s June 17, 2026 decision, which dismissed the commission’s previous appeal as “fundamentally defective” and incompetent.
In an application submitted by its counsel, Mr. Dapo Akinosun (SAN), the NBC requested that the appellate court extend the time limit for challenging Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court’s January 10, 2024, judgment.
The case stemmed from a challenge filed by Media Rights Agenda challenging the commission’s decision to impose fines of N5 million each on Multichoice Nigeria Limited, the proprietors of DSTV, TelCom Satellite Limited, Trust-TV Network Limited, and NTA Startimes Limited.
According to a statement issued on Monday and signed by Idowu Adewale, the communications officer of Media Rights Agenda, the sanctions were imposed after the broadcasters aired documentaries about banditry and insecurity in Zamfara State, which the NBC claimed undermined Nigeria’s national security.
In her decision, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia ruled that the commission behaved illegally and unconstitutionally in issuing the fines, stating that the NBC lacked the competence to discipline broadcasters because it is not a court.
The Court of Appeal, however, dismissed the commission’s initial appeal because the appellant was referred to in court documents as the “Nigerian Broadcasting Commission” rather than its statutory name, the “National Broadcasting Commission.”
In its new application, the NBC claimed that the verdict addressed issues of exceptional public importance about its statutory authority to regulate broadcasting and enforce compliance with broadcasting standards in Nigeria.
The commission warned that allowing the ruling to stand without appellate review would generate confusion about its regulatory authorities and damage the structure that governs the country’s television business.
According to the NBC, “The subsisting judgment is capable of creating significant uncertainty regarding the commission’s regulatory powers and its ability to effectively discharge its statutory mandate.”
It further suggested that a poor regulatory structure would encourage noncompliance with broadcasting standards, resulting in the distribution of inaccurate, misleading, and unverified material capable of provoking public fear, panic, and social unrest.
The panel also warned that a lack of adequate control might encourage reckless broadcasting practices and enable the misuse of broadcast and digital media channels to spread sensational or offensive information.
The NBC claimed that its intended appeal highlighted serious concerns about not only the parties to the litigation but also the integrity and orderly governance of Nigeria’s broadcasting ecosystem, with repercussions for broadcasters, content creators, and media consumers.
The commission informed the court that it had directed its lawyers to appeal Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia’s decision immediately after it was delivered and that the appeal was filed on March 18, 2024, within the time frame specified by law.
It attributed the first appeal’s failure to an unintended error on the part of its counsel in misdescribing the commission’s statutory name in the notice of appeal.
The NBC is also requesting permission to raise a new issue on appeal about the Media Rights Agenda’s legal authority to file and maintain the claim before the federal high court.
There is no set date for the application’s hearing.
